SouthFresh

Since memory of dreams is such a convoluted mess of imagery and sounds and information it’s sometimes difficult to remember the first time something took place in a dream I’ve had.

I do remember one day waking and mulling over the dream from the previous night only to find that I had accidentally found a solution to the Runner’s Dilemma.  The logic is pretty simple, but at the same time it shouldn’t work.

Simple answer?   Don’t run.

Long answer? Yes, there’s someone or something chasing me and I need to get away but if I run I’ll start leaning forward and not be able to run. Instead of running I found my self recalling unconsciously changing the way I move.  Instead of running (which always results in the Runner’s Dilemma) I would propel myself using both my hands and feet.

Real logic says that I can’t have the Runner’s Dilemma since I’m not running.  Dream Logic somehow makes it so that this new mode of locomotion is exempt from the Runner’s Dilemma.

What took me most by surprise is that I have now been successfully not running in my dreams for years using this exact method without bothering to think about “how” to run away.

If you have ever had a dream in which you are being chased you might have experienced the Runner’s Dilemma. I coined that right now so don’t go stealing it.

The Runner’s Dilemma is a state in which Dream Knowledge has made it absolutely necessary to run away from someone or some thing.  As you run, either your feet get heavier, they stick to the pavement, the list could go on forever. My personal version of the Runner’s Dilemma has me trying to run ever faster and leaning more and more forward to keep from falling backwards due to my speed.  When I say leaning forward, I’m not saying as if into a stiff wind… I mean a whole load forward.  If I were a geometry experiment my body would have less than a 45 degree angle with whatever surface I was running on.